Frigid blast follows ‘bomb cyclone’ snowstorm, with wind chills to fall to 50-below in some areas

iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A major cold blast is moving in behind the “bomb cyclone” snowstorm that battered the East Coast this week, shuttering schools and halting travel.

Cold blast

Now, with the storm gone and arctic air moving in, wind chills Friday morning were in the minus teens in Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C., and fell to the 20s even in Tampa.

The core of the coldest air will swing through the Northeast by Saturday morning with wind chills approaching minus 50 in New England.

From Washington, D.C., to Boston, wind chills will be in the teens and 20s below zero.

Wind chills will dip below zero even in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Warmer air is coming

For anyone sick of the extreme cold, there’s some good news starting next week.

Many areas from the Midwest to the Northeast will see temperatures warm to above freezing for the first time in weeks. And as we move into the middle and second half of the month, there is a trend showing a prolonged January thaw.

In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center is forecasting that most of the country will have above normal temperatures from Jan. 13 to Jan. 26.

Shoveling out from the ‘bomb cyclone’

The storm tore through the Northeast on Thursday, with blowing snow and gale-force winds.

The biggest snowfall was in Bangor, Maine, which got 18.3 inches.

Staffordville, Connecticut, saw 16 inches.

New York City’s Central Park had 9.8 inches of snow, while Logan International Airport in Boston was blanketed with 13.2 inches.

Public schools in New York City, Boston and around the region were closed Thursday.

The strongest wind Thursday was 76 mph on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, saw a gust of 71 mph.

Thursday’s storm also brought serious coastal damage and flooding to southern New England with massive high-tide levels in the Boston area.

Before the storm reached the Northeast, it ripped through the Southeast on Wednesday, bringing more snow to parts of the South than in nearly 30 years.

Rockyhock, North Carolina, had 1 full foot of snow.

Charleston, South Carolina, saw 5.3 inches — the most snow since 1989, when the city had 6 inches.